Cardinals try to shed losing past at Giants Stadium

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Arizona Cardinals are heading to another desert of sorts this weekend -- the one 5 miles west of New York City.

If anything has been a wasteland for the Cardinals since their move from St. Louis to Phoenix in 1988, it's been Giants Stadium.

The Cardinals have played in the 33-year-old structure that serves as home to the Giants and Jets 17 times since the move and won twice -- both against the Giants. The last win came in 1999.

The defending NFC champion Cardinals (3-2) will more than likely play their final game at the stadium when they face the Giants (5-1) in a nationally televised game Sunday night.

The last time the Cardinals played here was a nightmare. They faced the Jets early last season and fell behind 34-0 at the half en route to a 56-35 loss that featured a club-record-tying six touchdown passes by Brett Favre.

It was part of their death march through the East last season. They went 0-5 before making everyone forget the futility by stunning Carolina in the NFC playoffs. The Cardinals had been 2-19 playing in the East since 2003.

"I think we've put that behind us in regards to what happened last year and all those situations," quarterback Kurt Warner said. "It's a new time and a new place and we're going in to play a good football team. That's really where our focus is. I'm not really thinking about the past, whether it's my experiences playing there with the Giants or anything that we've done out there as opposing teams."

The Cardinals already have had success in the East this season, knocking off the Jaguars in Jacksonville. And they are coming off an impressive road win in Seattle last weekend.

"I think we feel good about how we travel, in other words, when we are going to leave and what our expectations are," coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

The Giants return home after being embarrassed 48-27 by the undefeated Saints in New Orleans, and they are looking to make amends. They put little pressure on Saints quarterback Drew Brees, touching him only three times and recording no sacks.

"We're always hungry, but it gives us a little bit of extra focus because we know there are problems out there that have been seen by the world and that we have to get corrected and prove we can do it right," Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said.

The Giants gave up almost 500 yards in total offense to the Saints, allowing Brees to pass for 369 yards and four touchdowns. New Orleans scored touchdowns on its first four possessions.

What the Giants hope to change this week is the amount of pressure on Warner, who started eight games for New York in 2004, posting a 2-2 record at home and 6-2 overall. New York did not sack Brees and only hit him three times.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan has promised to pick up the pressure, which will probably result in more blitzes. New York blitzed only 11 times in New Orleans.

"I'm sure they are going to feel good coming in against us and throwing the ball on us," Sheridan said of the Cardinals. "But they are a three-and-four-wide receiver team. I think they will do that as the norm. And they will throw from that. And their answer to the pressure will be to get rid of the ball or screens. That is their answer for pressure. They throw screens, which is a pain in the neck."

The Giants have shown they can score, too, averaging almost 30 points a game.

Eli Manning has thrown for 1,390 yards and 11 touchdowns and New York's running game is averaging 147.7 yards, fifth best in the league.

The Cardinals have the league's top rush defense, but they are among the worst in pass defense, yielding 324.8 yards per game.

Expect the Giants to try to remain balanced with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw attacking the Cardinals' front, which frequently puts eight players in the box.

"We don't look at it and curl up in the corner," Jacobs said. "We look at it as a challenge and try to be that one team to better than the previous teams."

The game will showcase two of NFL's top receivers. Fitzgerald has 35 catches for 360 yards and five touchdowns. Steve Smith of the Giants has 41 catches for 525 yards and four TDs. His 41 catches are tied with Pittsburgh's Hines Ward for the league lead and his yardage is tops in the NFC.

Whisenhunt feels the Cardinals have gotten back to playing the type of football they did in making their Super Bowl run at the end of last season. He blamed some early-season problems on players expecting too much of themselves.

"That led to a number of mistakes that really hurt us, especially a number of turnovers or missed assignments," he said. "We were trying to be too perfect. That has been the hardest thing for us. After our bye week we have just been trying to get back to playing the way we played last year in the playoffs. That is with a little more looseness, a little more excitement, not so much worried about making a mistake and just kind of turning it loose."

The key on Sunday will be doing it in Giants Stadium.

CONNECTICUT CONNECTION -- Giants: Will Beatty (UConn), a rookie, is a second-string left tackle. ... Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, from Cheshire, played quarterback at Southern Connecticut and was also head coach there. ... Quarterback coach Chris Palmer is a former Southern quarterback, UConn assistant coach and New Haven head coach. Cardinals: Cody Brown is a rookie outside linebacker on injured reserve. ... John McNulty, the receivers coach, held the same position at UConn from 1995-97. ... Special teams coach Jeff Spencer was head coach at Wesleyan (Middletown) from 1987-91.